This invention generally relates to a low cost device for aerating wine exiting from a container by breaking the flow of wine into multiple streams without injecting air into the wine.
Wine enthusiasts know that for certain wine, to truly enjoy the flavor, it must be allowed to “breath.” That is, the wine must be exposed to the air. This breathing, or aeration, to be more precise, has been done by opening a selected container of wine, typically a bottle of wine, and allowing the wine sit and interact with the air. A problem with this method is that it takes time for the air to interact with the wine. The problem is even greater with a “box of wine.” That is typically a flexible bag containing wine that had a resealable (multiple open and close) pour spout contained in a cardboard box. Such a wine box does not let air into the container to breath so it is important to aerate wine exiting the wine box container.
An excellent discussion of previous attempts to aerate wine can be found in US 2010/0011967 A1, which is hereby incorporated by reference for the discussion of the need to aerate wine, and the drawbacks of known methods and devices that inject air into wine in a container.
Other attempts to inject air into wine have been used, such as U.S. Design Pat. No. D614443 which shows a stopper having one tube of changing diameter for wine to pour out of a bottle that is designed to use the Venturi effect of a fluid moving through a compressed space and then into an expanded space. Formed into the tube in which the wine flows is an air intake that injects air into the wine as it flows past the constricted portion of the pouring tube. The same air supply line also is directed into the bottle end of the stopper so that air is fed back into the bottle as wine leaves the bottle.
Another attempt to aerate wine is the Aerating Pour Spout sold by True Fabrication™ of Seattle Wash. This device also has a single tube with changing diameter extending through the stopper to allow wine to exit a bottle, and also has a narrow portion to create a Venturi effect before it expands out to meet a metal plate with a plurality of holes in it defined as a “strainer [that] blends in oxygen.” This device has “dual vents” that draw in oxygen as a result of the Venturi effect.
These known examples of wine aerators inject air into wine via a Venturi effect, the same effect widely used in engineering applications, for example to mix air and fuel in carburetors. While this may be fine for fuel in carburetors, they are too harsh on the wine and therefore do not produce the pleasing effect of natural aeration, that is the air moving over the surface of the wine.